Grocery-cabinet.



C. R. MASON & E. W. TRIGG.

GROCERY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6 191B.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- WIT ESSES QM? I [,4 i

/ ATTORNEY (I. R. MASON & E. W. TRIGG.

GROCERY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 6. I918.

Patented A pr. 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR WIT ESSES ATTORNEY ATFQNT @FFTQE. v

CHARLES R. MASON AND EDWARD W. TRIGG, 0F YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

GROCERY-CABINET.

soinea.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

Application filed March 6, 1918. Serial N 0. 220,857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES R. MAsoN and EDWARD W. Trice, citizens of the United States, residing at Youngstown in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grocery-Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to grocery cabinets or the like, and has for an object to provide a cabinet designed to be set in the wall of a dwelling and having doors at opposite ends whereby access to the cabinet may be had both from the interior and exterior of the building.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grocery cabinet of the character above set forth embodying a locking means to control the outer door, and means operable when the inner door is opened to release the locking mechanism to permit the subsequent movement of the outer door to open position said locking means being operable when the outer door is subsequently returned to closed position to retain said outer door in closed position until the inner door is again opened.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a grocery cabinet having the above named characteristics and embodying means whereby the cabinet may be thoroughly ventilated to prevent deterioration of perishable foodstuffs contained therein.

' A still further object of the invention is to provide a grocery cabinet adapted to be set in a wall and constructed in a manner to permit :the' length of the cabinet to be varie'd so as to permit its accommodation in the walls of various thicknesses.

In addition to the foregoing our invention comprehends improvements in the details of construction and arrangement of the partsto be hereinafter more fully described and particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings similar and corresponding parts are designated by the same characters of reference throughout the several views in which they appear Figure 1, is a view in side elevation of our grocery cabinet illustrating the same in situ with the walls in section.

' Fig. 2, is a detail view of the cabinet in vertical longitudinal section. V

Fig. 3, is a view in side elevation of the cabinet illustrating a modified form of looking means, and

Fig. 4, is a view in elevation of the cabinet disclosing the rear or inner door.

Fig. 5, is a detail section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and

-Fig. 6, is a detail view in perspective illustrating the locking means.

With reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 6, of the drawings, 10 indicates generally the cabinet consisting of relatively movable sections 11 and 12. The section 12 is formed with a "bottom 13 perforated as at 14, and the section 11 is formed of three sides to embrace the section 12 whereby to vary the length of the cabinet to conform to walls of various thicknesses. Each section 11 and 12 is provided upon its outer end with a flange 15, to form an ornamental finish when the cabinet is set in the wall. The cabinet is open at either end to permit access thereto either from the outside or interior of the dwelling, and the outer end of the cabinet is closed by means of an outer door 16 hingedly mounted upon one vertical edge and formed with narrow openings 17 for ventilation the inner end of the cabinet being similarly provided with a door 18 hingedly mounted as at 19 upon one vertical edge. A ventilating flue is extended vertically through the wall as indicated at 20, and is enlarged at its upper end as indicated at 21, for con nection with the under side of the cabinet whereby communication is established be tween the interior of the flue and the in terior of the cabinet through the perforations 14. The lower end of the flue 20 is ex tended laterally and into an opening'in the inner surface of the wall of the dwelling communicating with the interior thereof and formed with a conical enlargement 22 to insure the creation of a proper draft in the flue to ventilate the cabinet.

Mounted on one side of the cabinet preferably on the section 11 is a locking mechanism indicated clearly in Figs. 1 and 6. The locking mechanism comprises a normally horizontal locking bar 23 pivotally mounted as at 24 for oscillatory movement in a vertical plane and having its free end located adjacent the outer door 16 and formed with a depending terminal or shoulder 25. The shoulder 25 of the locking bar is designed for coaotion with a keeper 26 secured to the outer door and which extends through an opening in the flange 15 when the door is in a closed position. The keeper 26 is provided with an upstanding shoulder 27 and an upper beveled face 28 extending downwardly from said shoulder. The locking bar. 23 is formed with a vertical slot 29 adjacent its outer end and a retaining device indicated generally at 30 is provided in the nature of an arcuate bar having one end inserted in the slot 29 and pivotally connected to the locking bar by means of a horizontal bolt, rivet or the like, 31 to pivotally support the retaining device for pendulum movement. The opposite end of the device 30 is enlarged as at 32 to form a weight, while the said retaining device is formed upon its concaved surface adjacent its point of pivotal connection with the locking bar with a shoulder 33 having an outer beveled face 34. An electro-magnet 35 is mounted on the cabinet directly above the locking bar 23 and one terminal of the electro-magnet is connected by means of a lead 36 to a feeder 37 connected at one end to a source of current 38 and at its opposite end to a signal such as an electric bell indicated 39. The other terminal of the signal 39 is connected by means of a lead 40 to a stationary contact 41 located upon the side of the cabinet directly beneath the locking bar 23. Said contact 41 is designed for engagement by a contact 42 mounted upon the under side of the locking bar. The other terminal of the source of current 38 is grounded to the ventilator 20 serving as a return. A stationary contact 43 is mounted upon the inner face of the flange 15 of the section 12 of the cabinet for coaction with a contact 44 mounted upon the inner door 18. The contact 43 is connected by means of a lead 45 to the hereto-fore unmentioned terminal of the elctro-magnet 35 while the contact 44 is of course grounded in the cabinet. When the inner door 18 is in a closed position the contacts 43 and 44 are normally in spaced relation, contacting however, when the inner door is moved outward for a purpose which will be presently seen.

In operation, and assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Fig. l of the drawings when the inner door 18 is moved to open position to ermit the removal of the contents of the cziloinet the first result is the mutual engagement of the contacts 43 and 44 whereby a circuit is established from the source of current 38 through the lead 37, conductor 36, electro-magnet 35, lead 45, contacts 43 and 44 to the flue 20 and thence through the return to the source of current thereby energizing said electro-magnet. The

locking bar 23 will be elevated when the elec-.

tro-magnet is energized with the result that the keeper 26 is released. The circuit thus established is only momentary but while the locking bar 23 is in an elevated position, the retaining device 30 will be permitted to swing to a depending position under the influence of the weighted portion 32 thereof so that the shoulder 33 of the retaining device will rest upon the shoulder 27 of the keeper whereby upon deenergization of the electro-magnet and the consequent movement of the locking bar 23 to depressed position the engagement between the shoulder 25 of said locking bar and the shoulder 27 of the keeper will be prevented and the outer door may be readily moved to open position by any one from the outside of the dwelling. Subsequent to the removal of the contents of the cabinet the inner door is moved to closed position. The locking mechanism is now in a released position and a tradesman may readily open the outer door for the purpose of refilling the cabinet. When the outer door is opened the locking bar 23 will fall until the contacts 41 and 42 are brought into engagement whereupon a circuit is established from the source of current 38 through the lead 37 to the finger 39, thence return-.

ing through the lead 40 to the contacts 41 and 42 through the locking bar 23 to the cabinet and flue 20 returning to the source of current. The signal is thus sounded and if the signal is of the continuous ringing type the signal will continue until the outer door is moved to closed position. When the outer door is thus returned to closed position the beveled face 27 of the keeper will engage the outer beveled face of the shoulder 25 of the locking bar 23 thereby elevating said locking bar until the shoulders 25 and 27 are interlocked or in the position shown in Fig. 1, the beveled face 27 of the keeper engaging the beveled face 33 of the retaining device 30 to move said retaining device to an inoperative position. The outer door is thus again locked and cannot be opened until the inner door is opened when the articles are to be abstracted from the cabinet.

A modified formof our invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive in which the electrical elements are dispensed with. The locking bolt, keeper and retaining device are employed, but in lieu of the electrical releasing mechanism a horizontal rod 50 which extends through an opening in the flange of the rear section 12 of the casing and is journaled at its opposite end in a bearing 51 projecting from the side of the casing. The rod may be formed in section adjustably con nected by means of a sleeve 52 so as to vary the length of the rod. The inner end of the rod is provided with a finger 53 extending laterally therefrom to engage the under side of the locking bar 23. An enlargement 23' may be formed on the side of the locking bar to facilitate the engagement therewith of the finger. The inner door for the purposes of this form of my invention is provided with a keeper 54 in the nature of a strip secured at one end of the door and having its opposite end spaced therefrom as at 55. A knob 56 is secured to the end of the rod which projects from the flange of the rear section of the cabinet and said knob is provided with a laterally extending finger 57 which may engage the door or be located between the door and the spaced portion of the keeper as indicated in Fig. 4.

In this form of our invention prior to the movement of the inner door 18 to open position the knob 56 must be rotated so as to disengage the finger 57 from the keeper of the door which movement results in the rotation of the finger 53 to lift the locking bar 23 in the same manner as the electro-magnet of the form described above. The outer door is thus released and is retained in released position in the manner heretofore described. The weight of the fingers 56 and 53, subsequent to the release of the rod 50 re turns the parts to normal position so as to permit the descent of the locking bar 23 when the outer door is opened and again closed. Otherwise the operation of this form of the invention is identical with that of the form first described.

WVhile we have illustrated and described our invention with some degree of particularity, we realize that in practice various alterations thereover may be made, and we therefore desire to reserve the right and privilege of changing the form of the details of construction, or otherwise altering the arrangement of the correlated parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. A cabinet open at opposite ends, doors forming closures for said ends, a keeper connected to one door, a hooked locking bar pivotally connected to the cabinet and adapted to engage the keeper when the door is closed, a retaining device pivotally connected to the locking bar, said retaining device having a hook on the upper end adapted to engage the end of the keeper when the door is closed, and the hook on the locking bar and the top of the keeper when the locking bar is raised for allowing the door to open, and means operable by the other door for raising the locking bar when the door is opened for releasing the locking bar from the keeper to allow the opposite door to be opened.

2. A cabinet open at opposite ends, doors forming closures for said ends, a keeper connected to one door, a hooked locking bar pivotally connected to the cabinet and adapted to engage the keeper when the door is closed, said hooked locking bar provided with a vertically extending elongated open ing intermediate its ends, a retaining device having one end received in the elongated opening of the hooked locking bar, a pin extending through the hooked locking bar and end of the retaining device for pivotally connecting the retaining device to the hooked locking bar, said retaining device having a hook on the upper end adapted to engage the end of the keeper when the door is closed and the hook on the locking bar and the top of the keeper when the locking bar is raised for allowing the door to open, and means operable by the other door for raising the locking bar when the door is opened for releasing the locking bar from the keeper to allow the opposite door to open.

In testimony whereof we alfix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES R. MASON. EDWARD w. TRIGG.

Witnesses:

FRANK. B. THOMPSON, WM. M. ANDERSON.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of JPatents, Washington, D. C. 

